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I know D-Ribose is a precursor to ATP... This is a great source for cellular energy. It isn't cheap, but it is one of the best "tools" for cellular energy and endurance. My nutritional practitioner provides it for her family before karate workouts, etc... You can start using it some days prior to the race to get it throughout the system...

Oh but you are doing a Half Marathon. You don't need anything on the way if you are doing it in a competitive way. If you just want to get it done then a little bit of water on the way is good, maybe some HEED from Hammer. Truth is making your body being use to using a lot of calories will help it store. They will probably have a water/electrolyte drink stand anyway; they offer both at the same time if they aren't total tools.

I did a half marathon (uncomfortably, in the wrong shoes for it) without any training prior (had been running earlier in the year but had a huge gap of many months). It just isn't that big of a deal to have to try and intake anything specific during it.

Oh but you are doing a Half Marathon. You don't need anything on the way if you are doing it in a competitive way. If you just want to get it done then a little bit of water on the way is good, maybe some HEED from Hammer. Truth is making your body being use to using a lot of calories will help it store. They will probably have a water/electrolyte drink stand anyway; they offer both at the same time if they aren't total tools.

I did a half marathon (uncomfortably, in the wrong shoes for it) without any training prior (had been running earlier in the year but had a huge gap of many months). It just isn't that big of a deal to have to try and intake anything specific during it.

I know D-Ribose is a precursor to ATP... This is a great source for cellular energy. It isn't cheap, but it is one of the best "tools" for cellular energy and endurance. My nutritional practitioner provides it for her family before karate workouts, etc... You can start using it some days prior to the race to get it throughout the system...

It is a half marathon. Your wasting your time with thinking you need all that stuff.

Ever seen a really fat person walking up stairs pausing to take sips of Gateraid? Same thing.

True, but--aside from the half marathon--I would want a quick, compliant source of glucose for the body's glycogen for other exercises as well. Honey comes to mind. Rice syrup also. Dextrose... All are avoids.

Rice itself converts nicely into glycogen but it isn't fast enough. It takes forever to digest.

What about something like pineapple juice? Or other compliant juices? What about light molasses? That's much lower in iron (and all other minerals) than blackstrap molasses, and is still neutral for O nonnies.

Personally, I do best having protein about an hour before exercising, and then some fruit right after. Too much sugar will just spike my insulin and then lead to a blood sugar crash- unless you're talking about sipping on the sugar source during the exercise itself?

If you're at all considering non-compliant foods (such as maltodextrin) then honey would be the safest choice. Yes, it's an avoid for O nonnies, but it's still a whole, real food and is a better choice than the processed junk out there.

Have fun slurping syrups while running. By the way no one doing endurance sports eats at the point they need the carbohydrates, protein, and electrolytes. They have a little more forethought than that, and they start consuming prior to crashing. In fact they work consumption into their workouts so they know when to eat and drink.

By the way I don't believe Hammer's stuff should be referred to as "processed junk" since they appear to do their best to source everything as best as possible. Besides we can't even be sure if say their maltoxdetrin comes from corn, and even if it does, if there are any corn proteins left in it to make it non-compliant.

I was thinking of gatorade when I said "processed junk". I'm not familiar with Hammer's products specifically. I still beleive it's better to have one whole food than a processed mixture that may or may not contain several avoid ingredients.

When I train I use exclusively Hammer Nutrition products. If you go to their website and read some of their abundantly informative articles, you'll understand why so many endurance athletes consider Hammer the best in the business

You can mix a little gatorade in water and have it somewhere down the course too. That could be an option.

I ride bikes so i have water or a mix of something on my bike. But i really don't care to eat anything while riding. The other day i got up and rode with my dad for 2 hours without eating breakfast, because i had a protein rich meal with carbs, beer (think i'm a nonnie!), and plenty of food the prior evening.

But that ain't a half marathon. I used to run but could not imagine eating while running. It really is best to fuel well prior with extra proteins and/or carbs that work for you.

I was thinking of gatorade when I said "processed junk". I'm not familiar with Hammer's products specifically. I still beleive it's better to have one whole food than a processed mixture that may or may not contain several avoid ingredients.

The only people that eat whole foods are not being competitive, or are doing ultra distances (like running 50-150 miles). There are reasons for it, lots of them. I promise despite the fact we know eating things with like oh I dunno, fiber, is good for you, it doesn't work for them so they don't do it. You have to remember at this point they are choosing sport over health anyways when it comes to vast hours spent "exercising".

Where can I find those "light" molasses with less iron? Amazon only seems to carry black molasses.

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True, but I'm asking for more than just the half-marathon. Just a quick source of glycogen for all sorts of exercise--strength and endurance. Something I (and other active O's) will be able to use for a long time.

The biggest reward will be just training your body to respond naturally. That means when you exercise more on the endurance side for endurance events, you also do sprints and other higher energy demand things on other days. It is about energy delivery in large part. Have you heard of VO2 max? You want to increase that. Truth is most people even if they have the calories, stored up, etc, they can't deliver enough oxygen to even take advantage of it at the level they want.